I just had an incredibly evocative moment. We've all experienced a smell that instantly transports us vividly to another time and place, perhaps decades in the past and hundreds or thousands of miles away.
While I have really been enjoying my pellet grill, I've been wanting to do a "traditional" smoke and with meat prices not being as crazy as they were, I've got a pork butt smoking on my PBC with cherry and hickory chunks. I typically don't cook with hickory as I had a few dishes that turned out over-smoked when I was still trying to smoke on my Weber Kettle; still I like the combo of cherry and hickory on pork.
A few moments ago, I went to go outside to put some foil plugs in some of the PBC holes as it was getting a bit hot. (If you own a PBC, you know what I am talking about.) As I opened the door, the wind changed and blew a bit of the smoke in my face.
Instantly, I was no longer standing at my backdoor in 2022 but at the backdoor of the house in which I grew up in 1985. The hickory smell -- unmistakeable, strong, but pleasant -- took me right back to watching my dad BBQ in our backyard. (He used exclusively hickory for BBQ.) The abruptness of the memory startled me; incredible how just smelling that smoke took me instantly and clearly back to nearly 40 years ago.
Such an evocative, wonderful memory.
While I have really been enjoying my pellet grill, I've been wanting to do a "traditional" smoke and with meat prices not being as crazy as they were, I've got a pork butt smoking on my PBC with cherry and hickory chunks. I typically don't cook with hickory as I had a few dishes that turned out over-smoked when I was still trying to smoke on my Weber Kettle; still I like the combo of cherry and hickory on pork.
A few moments ago, I went to go outside to put some foil plugs in some of the PBC holes as it was getting a bit hot. (If you own a PBC, you know what I am talking about.) As I opened the door, the wind changed and blew a bit of the smoke in my face.
Instantly, I was no longer standing at my backdoor in 2022 but at the backdoor of the house in which I grew up in 1985. The hickory smell -- unmistakeable, strong, but pleasant -- took me right back to watching my dad BBQ in our backyard. (He used exclusively hickory for BBQ.) The abruptness of the memory startled me; incredible how just smelling that smoke took me instantly and clearly back to nearly 40 years ago.
Such an evocative, wonderful memory.
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